Cinderella Sly Cooper
by XxTwisted-Miss-MayhemxX
Summary: Airi has always been treated like a house maid. So, when her father breaks her favoite video and she's thrown into the world of Syl Cooper, she has no idea what to do! Airi must follow her instincts and survive this crazy world!
1. Beginnings

I sat in my room, playing my favorite game: Sly cooper 2. "Ha! Take that Jean Bison!" I grinned as I played as Bentley, kicking me some red bison ass. When he wanted to be, Bentley could be a kick ass fighter!

"Airi!" I heard my mom call, "Get down here and do your chores!" I sighed. I was practically the family slave. No one did _any _cleaning, but me.

"Ok!" I yelled back. I stared helplessly at the screen. I couldn't save where I was! So I just turned off the TV, hoping that no one would see that the ps2 was on. I wasn't supposed to play it in the first place.

After a crap load of laundry, dishes, and wiping stuff down, I collapsed on my bed, "so tired…"

"_AIRI! _What did I tell you about playing video games?" my father screamed. ~_oh no!~_ I thought, running into the computer room. "What did I tell you? You know your not supposed to even _look _at it!" he yelled. I know. Extreme. But this was how it is in my house. Well, to me.

"I-I'm sorry, daddy! I won't do it again!" I cried, glancing at my dear game helplessly.

"You're right, you won't!" he bellowed, bringing up his foot and stomping down onto the game system, crushing it, along with my precious game.

"No! daddy!" I ran over, taking all the disk fragments in my hands.

He sneered, "Serves you right! Now go to your room! I don't want to see your face!"

I shot up, holding the fragments to my chest. I sat on my bed, crying and trying to out them back together. See, there was another reason this game was precious to me. This game had been a present from the only friend I'd had. She'd moved away recently, leaving me with no one. She gave me this game, her favorite game as well. I cried, "I'm so sorry, Veronica! I should've just put it back. I could have beaten it again easily! I'm sorry!" I cried into my pillow, the disk fragments, laid sadly on the table beside my bed. I cried myself to sleep. I had nothing left of her.

Meanwhile, while I slept, the disk fragments started to glow ominously. There was a bright flash, and I was no longer in my bed.


	2. First Encounter

I awoke, feeling cold and sore. I tried to pull at my covers, but realized there were none to grab at! I shot up, looking around me. I looked up to see this _huge_ bone dinosaur hanging from the ceiling. I gasped, examining my surroundings. I was in the museum in the beginning of the Sly Cooper 2 game! "Cool!" I sort of yelled, but covered my mouth, remembering that Carmelita and Neyla were probably in the museum by now.

I jumped up, a little higher then meant, and landed on the dinosaur skeleton. I stumbled a little, but caught myself. ~_Whoa! I'm like sly on this thing! Am I dreaming though? Well, if I am, I might as well make it last!~_ I grinned, running along the dinosaur noiselessly. I hopped over to the ledge, and jumped over the gate, avoiding the lasers. Which, may I add, was _very_ difficult.

I walked forward, checking out my surroundings. I stopped, seeing a guard flash his light towards the gate. I sighed when he moved away, and decided to go back to the Dino room. When I walked in there, I saw Sly up on the Dino. I jumped up to follow him, while he flipped the switch to turn on the power so Bentley could get up the elevator.

I saw Bentley come up the elevator, and run straight towards the computer. "Let me at the computer!" he grinned as he started to type, "There goes the spot lights….and the lasers. Now, for the Gate….got it! Alright! You go on ahead, while I give support from this computer."

"Ya know, for the first time in the field, your doing pretty well," Sly complimented.

"Yeah. Just go meet Murray at the rendezvous," Bentley chuckled. I slipped in behind Sly, when Bentley was preoccupied with the computer. I followed behind him silently, nearly laughing as I heard Bentley start to stutter on the intercom.

"Attention all guards! Were installing some new software into the Alarm systems, so don't be surprised if they start going off for a while. ER…..uh…..thank you. Y-You're all doing a….a v-very good job!"

I followed Sly around a little more, while he destroyed things, earning him hidden coins. We sauntered into a hallway and up some stairs. I hid behind a plant as to not be seen. I over heard Bentley talking to sly from the bino-cu-com.

He explained that the Clockwork parts were in a tower a little across from us. I looked down to see Murray on the ground, standing in front of the garden gates. "Well, it looks like I'm taking the long way around," Sly said, looking at a rope.

I cringed a little, ~Crap! I forgot about this! Oh well, if he can do it, so can I! Let's just hope that I don't lose my balance and go crashing down in front of those big….speeding….trucks….~ I gulped, and waited till Sly was over the rope and followed suite.

I nearly fell, but, thankfully, caught myself, and followed him onto the next rope. It was easier now that I knew I could do it.

We got to the tower and I hid again outside, behind a plant. Sly noticed that Murray wasn't there, so Bentley just told him to press on without him.

Sly was standing by the wall, when, suddenly, we heard Murray. "_thunder flop!_ "he yelled, crashing through the roof. I giggled to myself, seeing the look on Sly's face.

"I didn't hit you, did I, little buddy?" Murray asked.

Sly chuckled, "No, Murray. You didn't."

"Good, good! "the Murray's" thunder flop knows neither friend, nor foe," Murray grinned. I laughed a little, but stopped myself. I didn't want to get caught this far into it!

"Why don't you use some of that "Raw energy" and break down the gate?" Sly chuckled, pointing his cane over towards the gate.

I had to wait while sly hit a switch, opening the gate for Murray. I slid in, un-noticed, as Sly walked into an empty room. I hid behind another plant, looking at the mummy cases on the other side of the room, ~this is where-~

Bentley started to scream at sly. "Sly! This is wrong! This is all wrong! They're not here! We have to abort the mission Sly! I repeat! _Abort the mission! _" he yelled to Sly.

Carmelita shot out of one of the mummy coffins, "I've got you now, cooper! I knew that you'd come back to the scene of the crime!"

Sly looked at her weirdly, "Crime? _What crime?"_

"Don't play dumb with me! You know what I'm talking about!" she yelled, pointing her shock pistol at him.

"_What?_ I haven't stolen anything…yet!" Sly yelled.

"Don't act so stupid! You know-" Carmelita was interrupted as Neyla came out of the coffin beside her.

"Well, maybe it wasn't him," she suggested. I glared at her. I hated Neyla with a _passion_ . After what she did to the gang, I wanted her _dead!_ Carmelita and Neyla started to argue about whether Sly was innocent or not.

I decided that I would show myself then. "You might wanna, oh I dunno…run?" I said, coming up behind him and pulling him away from the bickering women.

"Who are you?" he whispered as we snuck behind Neyla, on a little ledge.

"Airi! The one who's saving your tail!" I whispered back.

"Cooper!" Carmelita yelled, running after us. Guess she couldn't see me. "You!" she yelled. Never mind. Guess she did….

"Who are you?" she yelled, shooting her gun at me. I dodged, barely.

"Whoa! Cool it, Princess! You could really hurt someone with that thing!" I smirked back at her, as she growled at me.

"Shut it, you!" she glared, shooting at me again.

"But I thought you wanted to know my name~? How can I tell you my name, if I'm supposed to 'shut it'? All that silicon in your chest going to your head?" I cooed, grinning back at her.

"ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!" she yelled, trying to hit me again. Sly grabbed my arm, pulling me another way, "Is it really a good idea to provoke her like that?"

I grinned, "Its fun! Hasn't stopped you either, has it?"

He smirked, "How right you are!" We ran until she suddenly jumped in front of us, causing us to split up. I ran, realizing that she was following me instead of Sly.

~Crap! She's not supposed to do that! What did I say-oh yeah…the fake boobs thing…heh heh!~ I turned a corner, nearly running straight into a wall. ~Shit!~ I thought, turning around to meet the barrel of Carmelita's gun. "I've got you now, girl! What's your name?" she yelled, cocking the gun,

I gulped, looking to the sky, my eyes caught a shadow above me. I smirked internally, seeing Sly wave at me and point to his cane. I nodded, and smirked down at the fox woman, "Well, sorry to burst your bubble, Carmy! But I don't give my name to strangers!"

I jumped up, catching the end of Sly's cane as he pulled me up. Sly caught me before I hit the ground. I smiled up at him, "Thanks!"

He grinned, putting me on my feet, "Anytime! You saved my tail from those "coppers"!"

I laughed, "Of course! We thieves have to stick together, no?"

He nodded, grinning, "How would you like to become a official Cooper Gang Member?" "Hmmmm…S-" I started till I was interrupted.

"COOPER! GIRL!" Carmelita shrieked, running towards us.

"Oh SHIT!" I yelled, grabbing his arm, pulling us away, "does she ever give up?"

Sly sighed, running in step with me, "Course not! This fox has been on my tail for years!"

I smirked over at him, "Not that you have any problem with that, right?"

He blushed, "I-I don't know what your talking about!"

I laughed, "Sure, sure!"

"SLY!" we heard someone yell and looked to see Murray and Bentley in the van in front of us.

Sly grabbed my arm and pulled me to the Van, but Carmelita shot at me, hitting my leg. Sly jumped into the Van, thinking he still had me, but looked back to see them driving off without me.

"Turn around!" He yelled, staring back as Carmelita came closer to me, holding out her badge.

"What? But, Sly! We can't take the chances of getting caught for some girl!" Bentley yelled back at him.

"I SAID TURN AROUND! NOW!" He yelled, grabbing the wheel and turning it around.

I stared up at the Shock Pistol's barrel as Carmelita showed me her badge. I cringed, holding my sore leg. I looked back to see Sly's gang driving off, leaving me to the fox woman. A tear came to eye.

~I should be used to this by now! Everyone is ALWAYS leaving me behind! Why does it still hurt so bad?~ I looked back at her, wiping the tear away to glare at her.

"You have the right to remain silent until you have a lawyer and or guardian with you," she spoke the usual bull the police spoke to a criminal, "What's your name-"

We heard tires screech and looked to see the van swerved around and headed straight towards us.

"What are they DOING?" Carmelita freaked, stepping back a little. I grinned. They were coming back! For ME!

I smirked up her, "Sorry, Carmy! Looks like you'll have to wait longer to find out my name~!" I held out my hand and Sly grabbed it as they sped by.

"What-COOPER! I'll get you!" Carmelita yelled, shaking her gun angrily as us as we closed the door.

I grinned over at Sly as the door closed and jumped him, hugging him tightly, "You came back for me! Thank you soooo much, Sly! No one's ever done that before!" He laughed, patting my back, "I guess Black Cats can cause bad luck for themselves too!"

I laughed pulling back, "What does a Black Cat have to do with this?"

He gave me a funny look, "Well…considering YOU'RE A Black Cat, then yeah. A lot."

I blinked, "Huh?" I looked down at my hands. Except they _weren't_ hands, they were PAWS. Black paws! I felt something swish behind me and looked to see a black tail. I raised my eye brow and grabbed it, pulling on it. "REWOOOOOOOW!" I screeched, then gasped, covering my mouth, ~Did I just do that?~

"What? You didn't know you were a cat?" Sly joked, but I didn't hear him. I was light headed, maybe I was waking up…"I'm a….a…a cat….Holy Snitzels..." I mumbled then fainted, feeling Sly catch me before I fell. ~What and odd dream…~ I thought, finally passing out.


	3. First Heist

I awoke sometime later to find myself on a cot in a darkened room. I jumped up, slightly afraid until I heard familiar voices waft in from outside of the door. I opened it, seeing Sly, Bentley, and Murray around a few computers, most likely looking for the first member of the Klaww Gang.

I rubbed my eyes, the memory of my being a cat well in the back of my mind. "Hey! You're awake! Airi, this is Bentley and Murray. Guys, this is Airi. She's the one who helped me escape the cops."

I waved that them both, Murray giving an excited wave while Bentley gave me a small nod. I could tell he was suspicious of me. It was understandable to say in the least. In their field of work, trusting anyone outside of their gang was a very large risk.

"Hi! Who is that?" I asked, pointing to the screen. I knew who it was, of course. But I couldn't tell them. They'd never believe me.

"This is Dimitri. Sort of a underworld celebrity, equally at home in high class art cirlces and shady back alley crimes. He was once a passionate, young art student, who worked hard to developed his own visionary style. Unfortunately, the art world wasn't quite ready for his kinetic aesthetic. So, he gave them what they wanted and started forging old masterpieces, his way of punishing those with bad taste. Dimitri now runs a night club on the west side. The thumbing music, colorful light shows, and a hint of danger lure chic young patrons from far and wide. It's here, hidden somewhere, that we'll find the Clockwork Tail Feathers. What he plans to do with them is beyond me, but those plans end tonight." I smirked at Sly, remembering the monologue from "The Black Chateau" episode.

"We're sending Sly in to do some recon work first." Bentley answered me, almost curtly.

"Oh, can I go? Oh, wait. Dang it! I don't have a weapon!" I pouted and sat between Sly and Murray, disappointed.

"Which is exactly why I went on the Thief Net and bought you two hooks that look like the one on my cane. I got you some new clothes, too. I figured they'd be easier to move around in." Sly held up a bag with folded up clothes in it, eyeing the baggy pants I wore along with the too short tank top. My hooks sat on a crate behind him.

I grinned at him, "Really? Thank you so much, Sly! I'll go put them on now!" I took the clothes, kissing Sly on the cheek as I did, and ran into the room I had been previously in.

Sly blinked slowly, a little red hue showing past his dark fur. Bentley and Murray gave him a look while he grinned cheekily at them.

I came out of the room, already loving my new clothes. It consisted of a dark blue, long sleeved dress that stopped about mid thigh and clung comfortably to my hips. A yellow utility belt hung loosely around my waist and I had yellow leggings that went down to the top of my knees, dark blue boots that stopped about mid-calf, and yellow fingerless gloves. A red pouch was strapped around my right thigh.

"I love it! Wait…now we match!" Sly grinned cheekily again.

"Well, we are going to be working side by side most of the time, plus-don't they just look cool?" I laughed out.

"They do! Ha! We're going to be the blue and yellow duo!" He and Murray laughed while Bentley rolled his eyes.

"Alright, alright! Get going, you two! You've got work to do!" We grinned and nodded. I grabbed my hooks while Sly grabbed his cane and we were off.

"Alright," Bentley's voice wafted into my ears from the spare binocucom that I looked through. Sly was looking through his as well. "I've installed an antenna on top of our safe house to help with the first job. We need to hack into Dimitri's satellite array. I've marked the position in your binocucoms' that you'll need to go to first. Once there, I'll give you both a full briefing on what you need to do."

"Alright, we're on our way." We put up our binocucoms' and made a beeline for the first task. We ran and jumped off of the safe house roof and onto a lower laying rooftop. We then slipped across a short rope and onto another building and off of that roof. We stopped at the top of some stairs, where Bentley began to brief us on our first task.

"Guys, I need you to hack into Dimitri's satellite array. You'll have to make your way up to the top of that water tower to reach it."

"That's great and all, Bentley, but how are we supposed to get up there?" Sly asked, looking around for ways to get to the top of the towering building.

"Look for some metal pipes. One is sure to be long enough to get you up to the satellite." We nodded and began to look for any pipes to get us up there. To the right of the tower, a pipe sat just low enough for us to reach up and grab it. We got to the top and Bentley began to speak again.

"I've put holographic markers next to things, such as this satellite dish. So, you'll know what and where you're supposed to go."

"Wow, that's handy. Good thinking, Bentley." I complimented him through my ear piece. I guess he chose to ignore me, because I didn't get an answer.

"So, lady's first?" Sly asked, holding his hand out by the switch for me. I chuckled, stepping up to the odd piece of machinery.

"Either you're a real gentleman…or you don't want to be the one to get shocked if this thing is wired." He grinned at me as I started the switch. I didn't know what I was supposed to press at first, but then I remembered the one's that Sly pressed in my game. I pressed the red button, then the green, then the red button again. A beam of thin, white light shot out and directly to the antenna Bentley had set atop Safe house.

"Nice work. Looks like we got a smart one on our hands." Sly motioned me to follow as we headed to the next satellite.

"Smartass…"I mumbled as Bentley began to talk again. I didn't even realize that he talked so much before.

"Great! Now, head to the next one. Remember to look through your binocucoms' to locate your next objective." We hopped off of the water tower and onto a fat, square building where I then proceeded to hit some antennas, earning me a few coins.

We then ran the length of it and crossed over to one of the buildings we'd previously been on. That building was joined with a archway, a bottle sitting on the very end of it. I picked it up. "Hey, what's this?"

"A message in a bottle?" Sly guessed, scratching the back of his neck.

"Interesting. It seems this is a clue to getting some kind of safe code. Collect as many of these as you can so I can decipher the code." Bentley said. I nodded and stuffed the paper in my pouch. I dropped the bottle off the roof and ended up knocking out a rat guard with it. Sly smirked down at it while I laughed quietly.

"Well…that'll keep him busy for a while. Come on, let's go." I nodded my head in the direction of the next satellite. We got to it and I let Sly get it while I picked up another bottle.

"Alright, good. Just one more left. Remember the-" Bentley started, but I interrupted him.

"-'View is always better from the rooftop.' We read ya, Bentley." I heard his angry huff while Sly rolled his eyes at us.

"I have a feeling you two are gonna take some time to warm up to each other." He chuckled whilst I frowned at him.

"It's not funny, Sly. Bentley doesn't trust me yet. Not that I blame him, since I'm not all crystal clear all of the time because of my personality, but it's not gonna be good for the team. I really have to try to make him trust me."

He nodded in understanding. "Don't worry. He'll come around soon. He's just not used to another person being on the team, let alone a girl." I sighed, but nodded.

"OK. Let's just get to this last satellite so we can go take some pictures of that slimy lizard butt." He laughed and we turned to go to the last satellite.

"Remember, if you guys decide to run, be careful as it is likely to alert any guard in the vicinity." Bentley informed us as we ran across another archway and onto the Le Hotel. No, really. That's its name. The last satellite sat over on the right hand side.

"Nice work, guys. I'm downloading his information as we speak. Now, its time for some reconnaissance work. You'll have to break into Dimitri's nightclub to take the recon photos. The only way in is an old wine cellar, so head for that."

"Alright, we're heading for the wine cellar." We ran to our right and onto a conjoining arch, finding another clue. We had already found another on a small balcony. We jumped off and onto a pink cloth pavilion that looked like the entrance to a café before we found the entrance to the cellar. Before we went in, Sly let me go to some boats that were tied to the side for another clue. Finally, we entered the wine cellar.

Murray was inside waiting for us. "Hey, Little Buddies! It seems the wine cellar is blocked by those rat guards. Bentley thought you might want some help taking them out."

"Sounds good. You and us, back to back." Sly grinned up at the pink hippo who nodded at him.

"Fighting impossible odds. This is gonna be great!" I giggled at them. I wondered where Murray got his new "confidence" from, but, hanging around Sly, I was pretty sure I knew where it came from.

"Gee. I guess its time for a bit of 'Cat and Mouse'. What do you guys say? Let's round up these rodents!"

Sly took out the first rat, signaling the other guards on our arrival. I was behind a thicker beam, so they hadn't spotted me yet. When one had its' back to me, I ran behind it and struck it on the back of the head with the hilt of one of my hooks. It cried out and turned to face me, spinning its baton at me as it charged towards me. I flipped over it and hit it again, this time, effectively knocking it out. Murray was finishing off his guard while Sly was knocking one over the head with his cane. The last rat almost snuck up behind him, but I used my hook and caught it around its neck, flinging it into a stack of crates. They all fell over on top of him as he fell unconscious.

Murray walked back over as Sly finished his off. We were all panting a little, well, Murray was panting a lot. "Thanks for saving my tail, Ai. That rat would've made a smoothie outta me with that baton." I smiled at the nick name, glad that he knew I had his back.

"Good work, Little Buddy! Now, let me lower that gate for ya." Murray went to work at getting the gate to come down for us. "you guys will have to jump high over the gate to get over. Looks like you're on your own from here."

Sly shrugged. "I'm not alone. I've got her." He motioned me to jump first and I nodded, jumping up and grabbing the top of the gate before I leap-frogged over it. "okay. Now you're just showing off."

I laughed, "And having fun doing it!" I went over to a small barrel in the back of the room and broke it open, getting some coins from the debris.

We walked farther, only to see lasers, the next obstacle in our past. The first set started at the left and squeezed it way to the right. We slid past them easily. All we had to do was get the timing right. The second set of lasers were straight up and another set zoomed across, making it impossible to get through. A table sat under the right side, effectively shielding that part of the ground from the lasers. I crawled in first and Sly got the clue and followed suit.

The last set came from the right corner of the archway, another table sat under the left side, once again, shielding us as we climbed under. I noticed a keg sitting to the left and sneered. "Drunkards."

"What? Don't like a little alcohol?" Sly chuckled as he got out from under the table. I leaned against the side of the keg and laughed lightly.

"Nah, I mean, I used to know someone who drunk a lot…" From the tone of my voice, he knew not to press on. He just pulled my arm, signaling me to follow him farther down the hallway. I paled, well, as much as you can as a black cat, when I saw this warthog-like guard blocking the way with his flashlight. His gun shined dangerously in his right hand.

"Guys, this guard to too strong to take head on. Crawl under the tables to sneak around him." Bentley suggested. We did as told and snuck under the tables to the right, barely making way past his flashlight.

A little ways down was another tough guard, but this one moved his light around. So, we had to wait for the opportune moment to slide beneath the tables in front of him.

We got past him and started to crawl into an air vent, where Bentley informed us on its destination, Dimitri's nightclub. Oh, Thank God. I was getting pretty tired from this already. I really have to work on my stamina when I get out of here.

After a longish trek of having to stare a Sly's butt(which I was slightly enjoying a bit more than necessary), we finally climbed out of the air vent. A guard stood in front of a doorway with yellow lasers blocking it. Coat racks and vanity's litter the rooms walls.

"In order to shut down those lasers, you'll need to take out that guard. Sneak up behind him and knock him into the air, then slam him into the ground to finish him off. Got that?" Bentley asked Sly and he nodded.

"Yeah. I'll take this one, okay? Unless, you wanna do it, of course." Sly raised his eye brow, a silly thing for him to do.

"Oh, no. You be my guest. I need to practice on that move a bit first before I try it on someone the size of a house." He chuckled and went to take the guard out while I went over to one of the vanity's and looked at my reflection.

I didn't look half bad, I noticed. I brushed dark brown hair from my eyes and really looked at myself. Emerald eyes stared back at me, light brown flakes here and there. I then noticed a single gold stud attached to the side of my right ear. "Huh…must have been where I got my cartilage pierced when I was thirteen…I remember having to hide it from Dad so he wouldn't do what he did to my eye brown piercing…"

I shivered and brushed the hair back that covered my right eye, the thin scar showed, even through my dark fur.

"Whoa, what happened there?" I heard and looked behind me in the mirror to see Sly looking at my eyebrow, slight worry in his sharp features.

"Hm? Oh." I let the hair fall back into place as I turned around to face him. "I used to have a eyebrow ring, but it got ripped out." I walked past him and started to trash the place, getting a few coins and a bit of my pent up anger out. That usually happened when I thought about my family. That, and fear of my father. I was starting to honestly wish that his wasn't a dream.

We made our way through the doorway, destroying some tables and couches on our way. More red lasers buzzed around in front of us, coming from the sides of the wall and sliding up and down. There were about five of them and they were all sliding in different directions.

"That stealth move only works on guards who haven't seen you. So, wait until he turns around and let him have it!" Bentley cackled excitedly over the ear piece. I giggled a bit. Man, did he love a good fight… when it didn't involve him!

Sly slid through first and took out the guard, automatically getting rid of the yellow lasers that blocked our path. I slid in after, barely escaping my tail getting burned. We followed the hallway to a room with a circular couch in the middle, a few couches and plants here and there, and a couple of rat guards walking around the couch in the middle.

Sly looked at me, and unspoken agreement going between as he snuck up behind the one on the left and I, the right. I decided to try the move Sly had been doing and threw him up in the air and slammed him back down, It didn't rid of him right away, like Sly had just done with his. I had to do it again to completely wipe him out, but it was done. I got a thumbs up from Sly was we went to trashing to room per usual.

A of couple more rat guards jumped from the balconies above so we had to take them head on. Sly and I stood back to back as they readied their attacks. Sly glanced back at me, "Wanna try a tag team move?" I smirked, glancing back at him as well as we dodged the attacks, getting back to back again.

"What did you have in mind?" We jumped in different directions as they attacked again. With Sly behind me again, he relayed his thoughts to me.

They came at us again, this time from the front. Sly hoisted me up onto his shoulders as the rats drew closer. "You ready?" Sly asked, one hand ready to hold me steady. I nodded at him, hooks ready for action. "okay…NOW!" I jumped off his shoulders and above the rats, my hooks capturing them around their necks as I slid down, throwing them over my shoulders to Sly as I slid on my knees. Sly was waiting, cane spinning wildly, and the grunts hit his cane, both falling to the ground, unconscious.

I stood back up, grinning and panting a bit from the extra weight on my arms. "Nice job! You and I are going to work well together, Ai." I smiled a bit, noticing the nick name again.

"You called me Ai." He blinked, suddenly looking uncomfortable. He scratched the back of his neck.

"Uh…yeah. Do you not like it? I can stop." I shook my head, laughing a bit from his cute awkwardness.

"No, I like it. It's just that I haven't been called that in a long time." I smiled at the thought of Veronica, a bit sad, but glad that I knew I would be talking to her again. I was really gonna have to tell her about this dream when I woke up. Then again, I might want to wait until Daddy has cooled off a bit before sneaking in to use the computer. I don't want to find out what else he'll do if he finds out that I'm messing with more of his stuff.

"Oh? A friend? Or a boyfriend?" He inquired. I rolled my eyes. What was he trying to pull, being flirty with me? It was kind of flattering, though.

"I hope that wasn't your "subtle" way of finding out if I'm single or not. It was a friend though, my best friend. My only friend, actually. She moved away last year, though. So, I don't see her anymore. I talk to her over the computer when I can, but its not often."

Sly grinned at me, but said nothing as we pressed on ahead. We got up on the stage at the far end of the room. Bentley chimed in, calling out the obvious. "Aha! Another air vent! Judging by that angle, it should lead to the Printing Press room!" Sly smirked and knocked the cover off as we climbed into it.

We came out into what looked like a giant air vent opening. We could clearly see Dimitri and his printing press now. The Clockwork tail feathers were being used as the plate keys on the machine.

"Jackpot! The heart of Dimitri's operation! Head for those openings and take some reconnaissance photos!" Sly did as told and pulled out his binocucom and began to take pictures of the place. I did the same with mine, amazed at seeing everything so closely.

We got pictures of the generator, the tail feathers, and Dimitri. We were then told to come back to show Bentley so he could come up with a plan. Things were about to get much harder.


End file.
